Peiris: Auto repair shops need to keep up with modern vehicles

Nowhere else in the country but Saskatchewan would the repair of modern vehicles involved in collisions become a political issue about the viability of rural businesses.Perhaps it has something to do with the monopoly role Saskatchewan Government Insurance plays in our mandatory auto insurance business through the Auto Fund, but the fuss over SGI’s plans to change the way it accredits the province’s 260 auto body shops makes little sense.It all boils down to this: Fixing the latest models of vehicles, which contain material such as carbon fibre and aluminum to reduce vehicle weight for better fuel economy, requires some specialized equipment and additional training of technicians to ensure repairs meet factory safety standards.Many smaller auto body shops across the province, which rely mostly on SGI-insured work for their livelihoods, say the expensive new equipment is beyond their means, and would drive them out of business. Besides, they say, a majority of the work they do involves repairs that don’t need the advanced technology and training.The cost of the equipment has been pegged at between $40,000 and more than $200,000, not counting staff training.While the potential demise of rural repair facilities, many of them decades-old, is indeed a sad prospect, the reality is that vehicle technology has changed rapidly over the past decade. The current business model may serve the smaller, low-volume body shops while there are enough older vehicles still on the road, but it’s only a matter of time before these businesses need to adapt or face the inevitable.Despite concerns raised by Opposition politicians and rural shop owners, there’s nothing unfair about SGI, which last updated its auto body tool requirements in 1991, seeking to modernize its regulations in the interest of road safety.The announcement by SGI at a recent repair industry conference that the public insurer plans to introduce by next April a two-tier accreditation system with separate labour rates seems to be the driving force behind the complaints.The response to critics by Joe Hargrave, minister responsible for SGI, that insurance officials may have “got out there a little ahead of themselves,” isn’t particularly helpful.While Hargrave says no changes will be made until the industry has been consulted, it’s hard to imagine a solution that doesn’t involve a two-tier system — one to certify shops that provide the equipment and training needed to fix new vehicles, and another for those that don’t. No one should expect, or tolerate, allowing repairs to be performed in shops that lack the proper equipment for the job.For an industry that currently has four levels of accreditation by SGI depending on the services a shop is capable of providing, the proposed changes are reasonable: Make the investment and get paid a higher rate, or continue to repair only older vehicle models at a lesser pay rate.NDP MLA Nicole Rancourt raised the issue in the legislature, accusing Hargrave of forcing rural shops unfairly to take on costs they can’t afford, and “putting another nail in the coffin of rural Saskatchewan.” She said these small businesses already are struggling in this economy and wondered if Hargrave is suggesting that they get paid less.The NDP might be trying to court rural voters by pushing the government to devise a plan to help smaller companies adapt to a changing industry by having SGI finally backstop their operations, but it’s on the wrong track if that’s the goal.The purpose of SGI-funded auto body repairs is to ensure vehicle safety on the road, not to preserve outdated businesses that need to modernize and keep pace with technology for the longer term.Related